Owkin, AstraZeneca partner to develop an AI gBRCA prescreen remedy for breast cancer [Video]

AI biotech company Owkin announced a partnership with pharma giant AstraZeneca to develop an AI-powered tool designed to prescreen for gBRCA mutations (gBRCAm) in breast cancer directly from digitized pathology slides.

According to Owkin, BRCA testing, which identifies mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, plays an important role in deciding a person’s risk for developing certain cancers, notably breast and ovarian cancers. 

The aim of the tool is to speed up and increase access to gBRCS testing that some patients may not be considered for.

The tool will utilize high-quality data from more than 6,500 whole slide images from resections and biopsies of almost 2,000 patients, half of which have the gBRCA mutation.  

Owkin works with Gustave Roussy and The Centre Léon Bérard through PortrAIt, a French consortium to expedite precision medicine via AI-enabled digital pathology.

“We are excited to collaborate with AstraZeneca to bring the benefits of AI to BRCA testing with the gBRCA Pre-Screen solution,” Dr. Thomas …